Washington hunting

[pmkvt14]

All my wife is looking to relocating to Washington from CO, any concerns i should have about the hunting laws?

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

The majority of our Commission is actively trying to strip hunting opportunities away. So that’s concerning.

 

[Raghornklr]

Pick your weapon and season, 3pt minimum on the west side and spike only on the east. Fewer elk than Colorado by a long shot. I believe Colorado is set up fairly similar. And these are generalizations.

 

[Jason277]

Definitely way less elk and yes they are trying to railroad hunting here but it sounds like CO is in the same boat .

 

[wide_groupings]

Pick your weapon and season, 3pt minimum on the west side and spike only on the east. Fewer elk than Colorado by a long shot. I believe Colorado is set up fairly similar. And these are generalizations.

I don't know the WA regs so forgive my ignorance, but what do you mean spike only on the east? The regs page makes it seem like there are a lot of any elk/any bull units on the eastside for general tag rifle

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

I don't know the WA regs so forgive my ignorance, but what do you mean spike only on the east? The regs page makes it seem like there are a lot of any elk/any bull units on the eastside for general tag rifle

Spike only in the units that are worth hunting.

 

[Raghornklr]

I don't know the WA regs so forgive my ignorance, but what do you mean spike only on the east? The regs page makes it seem like there are a lot of any elk/any bull units on the eastside for general tag rifle

Spike only in the units that are worth hunting.

The any elk units are managed for no elk basically.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Spike only for OTC hunting in most descent East side units. Branched antlered requires drawing a permit. Just to level set things, 20+ years of applying and still haven't drawn one of those. Western OTC permits are different but I have never hunted the west side. The Cascade range separates east from west.

 

[wide_groupings]

Thanks, yeah I knew the more premier WA units were basically impossible draws but didn't know the rest was so weighted towards spikes. How do you guys find the spike hunts to be?

 

[ridgefire]

Elk hunting in Washington chokes for the most part unless you can draw a tag which is next to impossible. I don’t know what the success rate on spikes is but I’m guessing it’s under 5%. Pretty slim pickings.

 

[Johnbaldwin86]

The hunting regulations are a little more complicated than CO, but if you can navigate CO regs WA shouldn't be too challenging. I have only hunted CO once, but some key differences are WA does not have separate rules for private vs public, draw hunt dates can be unit specific vs CO's 1st and 4th rifle.

When you buy your elk tag in WA, you need to pick weapon choice (archery, muzzleloader or modern firearm) and Westside/Eastside of state. You can only apply for draw tags that match your purchased general tag required for that hunt. WA has early and late seasons for each weapon choice, general tag is valid for both. Elk is pretty limited for late season hunts.

WA also has two sub species of elk, rocky mountain elk like CO and Roosevelt on the coast.

 

[dreamingbig]

All my wife is looking to relocating to Washington from CO, any concerns i should have about the hunting laws?

Don't!

You will have shorter seasons and have to pick your weapon.


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[Hike2hunt]

The salmon fishing is great.

 

[CHIEF CRNA]

All my wife is looking to relocating to Washington from CO, any concerns i should have about the hunting laws?

It is an absolute shitshow out here. The rules for anything are so confusing, you can't wrap your brain around it. I am from Colorado and if it were not for the Navy, I would be right back there. The fishing laws change on the hour and you have to have an app and ensure you check it 20 times a day in case they have closures that they randomly throw at you. Oh yeah, no one will help you at all try to understand the regulations. I have a year and a half until I retire and get back to Colorado.